Technical Field
The present invention relates to a device and a method that allows a touch input device, which is used as input means for an electronic apparatus, to determine whether or not recovery processing of application software of the touch input device is necessary and execute recovery processing of the application software of the touch input device.
Description of the Related Art
Today, apparatuses with integrated touch input devices not only serve as mobile phone terminals (e.g., smartphones) and small terminals (e.g., electronic book readers), but also serve as personal computers (e.g., tablet PCs). For many these apparatuses with integrated touch input devices, most, if not all, of their operations are carried out by touch input and cannot be carried out by alternative input means.
Many of these touch input devices execute advanced internal processing and have many functions that simple input devices, such as mice and keyboards, do not. Consequently, touch input devices often include update functionality to update their firmware. Furthermore, many touch input devices can be updated while being incorporated in an information processing device (e.g., terminal) for user convenience. When a touch input device is incorporated in an information processing device and the touch input device's firmware is updated, normal operation of the information processing device can be continued if the firmware is updated properly and the touch input device operates correctly based on the updated firmware. However, if the update of the firmware fails or is defective, the touch input device may become inoperable. As such, if the touch input device is the sole input means, a user will be unable to perform any operation. Even return of the firmware of the touch input device to its original state would be impossible.
One common measure to prevent a touch input device from becoming inoperable is preventing update processing of firmware from being interrupted. Another common measure is verifying that new firmware for an update correctly operates prior to update processing. However, it is difficult to completely eliminate the possibility that the touch input device becomes inoperable.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2013-3757, hereinafter Patent Document 1, discloses an invention relating to an information processing device that prevents a touch input device from being inoperable after a firmware update. The touch input device is included in the information processing device and includes a touch panel 21, a CPU 22, and a volatile memory 23. Every time the information processing device is powered on, a data processing unit 10 of the information processing device supplies firmware stored in a ROM 13 of the data processing unit to the touch input device by communication via a bus 4. The firmware for the touch input device is written to the volatile memory by the CPU and is then executed by the CPU, resulting in a functional touch input device.
Old firmware, in addition to new firmware, is also held in the ROM of the data processing unit when the firmware for the touch input device is updated. If the new firmware is executed in the touch input device and normal data is not returned from the touch input device to the data processing unit in a predetermined time, the data processing unit supplies the old firmware from the ROM of the data processing unit to the touch input device and activates the old firmware. As such, a situation in which the touch input device becomes inoperable is avoided.
As described above, the firmware for the touch input device is stored in the ROM of the data processing unit of the information processing device. Therefore, the information processing device has a configuration in which the firmware is provided from the data processing unit to the touch input device every time the information processing device is powered on. Accordingly, the update function for the firmware for the touch input device and the recovery function for the firmware for the touch input device are implemented as functions of the data processing unit of the information processing device, not as functions of the touch input device. That is, the update function and the recovery function for the firmware for the touch input device work only as functions of the entire information processing device, including the data processing unit and the touch input device.
In addition, if the firmware is provided from the data processing unit of the information processing device to the touch input device every time the information processing device is powered on, additional time for the provision of the firmware is needed for every power activation and the start-up time of the information processing device is increased. To address this problem, it would be effective to hold the firmware for the touch input device in a memory of the touch input device.